Recipe for Curd Rice

Curd rice is a popular food in India. In the southern parts of the country, people generally end their meal with curd rice. It is served as the last course. Typically a South Indian meal consists of rice with gravy dishes like sambar, rasam etc., served with sabzi, papad, vada, pickle etc. This meal is typically ended with a small portion of rice combined with curd. It is either eaten with any gravy or with pickle. Some people prefer it even ‘lighter’. Instead of curd, they combine buttermilk with rice to end their meal.

The reason for ending the meal with curd rice is that curd contains good bacteria, which aids in digestion. Indian foods are known to be spicy. Ending a spicy meal with curd rice/buttermilk rice has a cooling effect on the body and helps digest the food easily. The probiotics in curd are also known to help build immunity, and people claim that this food is a mood enhancer too.

As mentioned above, curd rice is typically the last course to end a spicy meal. However, it is a complete meal in itself. Rice and curd combined, tempered and garnished, is a delicious dish that is easy to cook, filling, and most definitely satisfying. It is best to eat curd rice at lunch instead of dinner because it is high in carbs (due to the presence of rice). The high energy you get from rice can be better utilized during the day, rather than at night, just before sleeping.

So, let’s see how this humble dish is made:

Equipment needed to make Curd Rice:

• Pressure Cooker: It is best to cook rice in a pressure cooker because we need soft-cooked rice for this recipe.
• Mixing bowl: A big mixing bowl is needed to combine all the ingredients.
• Pan: For tempering.

Ingredients needed to make Curd Rice:

• 2 Cups Rice; washed and soaked for an hour
• 500-700 gm Yoghurt/Curd
• Water; to adjust the consistency
• Salt; to taste

Ingredients for Tempering:

• 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 8-10 Cashews; halved
• 8-10 Curry Leaves
• 1 tsp Chana Dal
• 1 tsp Urad Dal
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds/Mustard Seeds
• ⅓ tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Ginger
• 2-3 Green Chillies; finely chopped
• 2-3 Dry Red Chillies; broken

Ingredients for Garnishing (Choose any or all):

• Finely Chopped Fresh Coriander Leaves
• Pomegranate Seeds
• Grated Carrot
• Finely Chopped Cucumber

Method to make Curd Rice:

• Cook the rice till it is soft. Remove from the cooking pot/pressure cooker and let it cool completely.
  
  
  
• When the rice is cooled, add curd/yoghurt and salt and mix well. Add water to adjust the consistency, as per your preference. I have used about 1 cup of water in my recipe. (Some people prefer roughly mashing the rice before mixing it with curd. It is a personal preference. You can do it if you like.)
  
  
  
• Alternatively, you can add 1 medium-sized grated beetroot to give it a nice pink colour.
  
  
  
• Prepare the tempering by frying all the tempering ingredients on low to medium heat.
  
  
  
• When fried well, add to the rice. Garnish with any garnishing ingredient of your choice.
  
  
  

The same recipe can be followed for making Curd Quinoa. You have to just replace rice with quinoa. For instructions on how to cook quinoa, check out the recipe here.

Here is the recipe in printable format:

Please note that this article contains affiliate links. If you buy using these links, I receive a small commission. This has no effect on the price for you.

Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on social media.

Follow me on:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads